Alpha Twelve: The Insurrection
by TonnyT
Summary: Follow ODST squad Alpha Twelve through the last days of Operation Trebuchet as they find out the Innies are more devious and desperate than the UNSC realized. Rated T: For language and Violence.
1. Chapter 1: Mission Briefing

A/N: Hey everyone!  
Thanks in advance for checking out my fan-fiction. This story follows the ODST squad Alpha Twelve during the late days of Operation Trebuchet. All the characters are original, however a lot of time, effort and research was done to make this as cannon as possible. I wanted to create a scenario as realistic as possible in accordance to Halo lore.  
Alot of this was inspired by the Halo novels.

Let me know what you guys think, enjoy the story and drop a review if you liked it.

* * *

Mid June, 2524 Operation Trebuchet

132nd Shock Troops Battalion

Special Operations Task Force Alpha-Twelve

Gunnery Sergeant Tony Carlisle

Specialist David Collier

Lance Corporal John Tunudo

Private First Class Vincent Miles

 **Chapter 1: Mission Briefing**

* * *

Gunnery Sergeant Tony Carlisle took a moment to take in his fireteam as they gathered around the briefing room. It became part of his routine to assess the squad's morale before briefing them. The mood was somber, Operation Trebuchet had been going on for over ten years, most of the civilian population either lost someone or knew someone who lost someone in all the fighting. The long bloody feud between the United Earth Government and outer colonies had taken its toll on humanity. There was even talk of capitulation in the UEG Congress after a decade of spilled blood.

"All right everyone, listen up. We're going to Green Hills as an expedition force. The Innies hit the planetary comm relay station and they're using it to jam all long range communication. There's been no word from the planet for two days."

As usual Specialist David Collier was the first to speak up, the insurrection only gave him an excuse to do what he loved, blowing stuff up.

"Oh boy I love field trips, how we getting there boss?"

"Our ride is the UNSC _Sessrúmnir_ , it'll drop us off at Green Hills on its way to resupply Sprague's fleet at Harvest."

Private Miles pitched in next, he was the engineer of the group, anything the squad needed fixed, driven or piloted, there was no one better for the task. "What is she?"

"Retrofitted Phoenix class."

The old Phoenix colony ships weren't known for being state of the art, especially after a military refit from colony ship to support carrier. Lance Corporal Tunudo was the next to complain, he was the group's sharpshooter, more often than not, his precision was needed achieve the mission objectives. "Not exactly a luxury liner."

"Stow it" Tony replied, "The fleet resupply is the ship's priority, we're merely hitching a ride. Command assumes local efforts are either underway or have failed. There's been no word from the planetary garrison thanks to the jamming signal. The garrison at Green Hills was being transferred, they're currently undermanned. Making contact with the garrison is a secondary objective, the primary objective recapture the relay and kill the signal. We'll drop a few kilometers from the relay station undercover of night, far enough so no one hears the pod impacts. We'll move on foot to the relay station and shut down the jamming signal. UNSC Frigate _Armstrong_ will be on station to provide support and reinforcements. But remember that won't happen until the jamming signal is terminated. FLEETCOM won't be keeping us company on this one."

"Fun, when do we board?"

"Grab your gear, we're going now."

As the squad gathered their gear and boarded the _Sessrúmnir_ , Tony took some time to reminisce, Alpha-Twelve had been his squad for six years, only himself and David Collier remained from the original team. Glancing at his friend since ODST training, Tony watched as he packed enough explosives to bring down a military installation, as well as his trusty M41 Jackhammer rocket launcher. John joined as a replacement two years after the squad was formed, Tony had come to reply on his skills, although his sense of humor sometimes left much to be desired, he watched as John packed his SRS99 sniper rifle, a rifle he constantly insisted was lucky. Vince was a still relatively new to the squad joining in a few months ago after a raid on a munitions dump went south. Tony had explained he didn't need to be addressed by his rank, but he still called him sarge. Tony was weary about getting close to the young private, sooner for latter he knew his time would be up. Six years under Naval Special Warfare, running special operations. Six years of high risk missions against the insurrectionists. Alpha-Twelve was originally six members, now down to four Tony was all too familiar with losing those under his command. Still he wouldn't trade his job or his fellow team members for anything.

* * *

While the rest of the team settled in the ODST barracks near the stern of the ship, Tony made his way to the bridge per the captain's invitation. The deck plates and bulkheads were still in perfect condition, the ship was retrofitted recently. The lift doors opened and he was welcomed by the sight of naval officers pushing buttons and watching displays. He stepped onto the bridge and saluted, "Permission to enter the bridge, sir?" captain Whittaker turned around from the display he was examining. He was perfectly groomed in his pristine white naval uniform. Whittaker was practically untouched by ravages of war, still bright eyed and regulation happy. Whereas over a decade of military service was apparent in the eyes of the war weary sergeant.

"Ah yes, Gunnery Sergeant, join me. I'd like a word."

While it wasn't Tony's first time on a ship's bridge usually a captain doesn't usually invite an ODST sergeant to join him, although he was no ordinary ODST his fellow soldiers didn't know that.

"Sir?"

He gestured to a cabin off to the side. Tony entered first and let his gaze wander the room. It was sparsely decorated apart from a desk with a terminal and a single chair behind it. Behind that was a shelf with some books and a small amount of personal effects. captain Whittaker casually strolled over to the desk and sat down, while Tony stood at attention.

Whittaker glared at him for a few moments like a shark sizing up his prey, It was obvious he held little regard for the ODST's presence on his ship. Then again ODSTs had a fleet wide reputation for playing fast and loose with regulations. After a few more moments he finally spoke up.  
"I'm used to following orders, sergeant. But I don't like being lied to."

"I'm afraid I don't under-" Tony tried to reply before he cut him off.

"I have orders to carry much needed supplies to Admiral Sprague's fleet, then out of the blue NAVCOM countermands my orders and adds a thirty six hour delay to my departure to pick up and drop off your team, not to mention the detour I have to take."

"That's correct, sir."

"Now I was told to exit slipspace, drop your squad on Green Hills and continue on my way. All while not having any contact from the planet, which in itself is suspicious. Is there anything you care to add to this briefing?"

Alpha Twelve weren't typical ODSTs, being under direct command of NAVSPECWAR meant the squad colored outside the lines a few times. This wasn't the first time they left their fellow soldiers operating in the dark, but normally they don't confront the squad about it.

"The briefing is accurate sir, I cannot share anything beyond that."

Tony swore he could hear his teeth grind together.

"Very well Gunnery Sergeant, I'll go along with your cloak and dagger games, but I want to be absolutely clear, I have no intention of putting my ship in danger. If I see any sign of trouble at all I will scrub your little mission. Are we clear?"

 _'Probably wants to keep his uniform pristine white.'_ Tony thought to himself.

"Yes, sir!"

"Dismissed!"

"Typical military bureaucrat flexing his muscles" Tony muttered under his breath as he left the bridge.

He boarded the tram to make his way aft. At two and a half kilometers long made the Phoenix classes one of the largest ships in the UNSC fleet. The colony ship that once housed thousands of colonists, terraforming equipment and everything needed to ready a planet for human life now housed approximately six thousand marines, and factories capable of making everything from rifles to MAC rounds. Military retrofits of this type were uncommon, however as the insurrection grew the UNSC not only required more ships but the ability to supply its forces for longer, more extended durations. The retrofitted phoenix-classes were their solution.

The tram ride was brief, stopping several times as marines and naval personnel went about their business. As he watched, Tony took note of the crew's mood, most of them were optimistic, almost cheerful. A far juxtaposition from the somber ODST sharing the tram. Many of the marines were freshly trained, replacements that would be transferred to the fleet, the naval officers were inexperienced at best, being on a supply ship gave them little opportunity to see combat. Fortunately none of them felt the need to start a conversation with the ODST.

Tony excused himself as he left the tram and made his way to the HEV bay. A large space containing its own armory, briefing tables, and about six hundred SOEIVs. The bay was empty save the members of Alpha-Twelve readying their equipment for the mission. As Tony stepped in David tossed over his customized M392 DMR.

"How was your visit to the principal's office?" he chuckled.

"Our ferry captain isn't happy being kept in the dark." He caught the weapon, and examined for any grime or defects. "Good cleaning."

"You can thank Vince, he drew the short straw." said John from the corner of the room, he was busy cleaning the barrel of his SRS99 sniper rifle. Normally the squad would all service their own gear, but the sergeant was out having a chat.

"You're welcome." Vince chimed in. "and next time you see the captain let him know I have a complaint about the accommodation."

Tony cracked a smile, "I'll be sure to pass on the message."

* * *

After prepping all the gear for the mission, the squad spent most of their time in the nearby ODST barracks and common rooms with the six hundred other ODSTs stationed on board the _Sessrúmnir_. Tony stared into his opponents face, a fellow ODST named Charlie sitting across the table from him. Charlie made no movement at all, concealing his thoughts behind a practiced grin. He looked left to his fellow squad member David hoping for some advice for his next move only to be disappointed. David had lost interest in the game, his low patience already looking for something else to amuse him. Tony looked to his right at a young private named Angela she watched with great interest, noticing his glance she merely shrugged.  
"Alright I'll call." Taking a sizeable stack of chips from his pool and placed in the center of the table. "Two pair.", Tony said as he flipped over his cards revealing a pair of sixes and tens. Charlie was the only other player who hadn't folded, the pot between the four of them had grown to a substantial sum.  
Charlie revealed three eights and a pair of jacks with a big grin. "Full house."

"Aww, come on, that's the fourth hand in a row." Tony replied with exasperation.

Angela questioned "How does he do it?"

Charlie held the same grin, "I cheat."

David, at the realization he had been conned out of his money suddenly returned his attention back to the poker game, he looked like he was about to punch him.

Charlie held up his hands, "I'm kidding!"

The ship's Intercom interrupted the ODST's poker game.

"Bridge to Sergeant Carlisle, Bridge to Sergeant Carlisle.

Tony shrugged with a smile as he stood up "Sorry ladies, gotta go."

Charlie spoke up, "You're just tired of losing."

His response was an empty can of soda hitting his arm.

Tony made his across the common room to the nearest ship intercom. "This is Sergeant Carlisle."

"Bridge reports we'll be dropping out of slipspace in 20 minutes, after that we'll be over your target in 13.

"Thank you, is that all?"

"Captain wants to reiterate, there will be no contact from the planet?"

"Affirmative."

"Very good Sergeant, get your team prepped for drop, Bridge out."

* * *

Halo © copyright Microsoft Corporation

Alpha Twelve is not endorsed by Microsoft or anyone officially involved in the producing or managing of Halo. As such, it does not contribute to the narrative of the fictional universe.


	2. Chapter 2: Hard Drop

**Chapter 2: Hard Drop**

* * *

Tony felt his pod impact the ground with a deafening boom, he smashed the button to eject the drop pod's hatch. The hatch flew several meters away then was engulfed by darkness. A drop by itself was pretty dangerous, every ODST's worst fear was failure of the braking jets, although such an occurrence was rare, it was known to happen and more often than not caused the death of the occupant. However a night drop comes with more heightened risk. He Instinctively grabbed his rifle and scanned the immediate vicinity with his helmet's built-in night vision. As planned the squad dropped in a small forest clearing far from any perspective witnesses. His motion tracker picked up two contacts one about 12 meters to his northeast, the other out on the edge at 25 meters west. IFF confirmed both were friendly.  
"Role Call" He radioed in using the helmet's built in comms as he gathered his weapons and ammo from the pod.  
David's voice came over the radio, "Here boss."

Another call came in, "Bar- -py Sarge -local jam- -nal -ker rally -tion." His call was extremely garbled but he recognized Vince's voice. "David, did you copy Vince?" By now he already covered half the distance between the two pods.  
"No, I didn't receive his comm, I don't have him on tracker either."  
"I have him on the far end of mine, looks like he's making his way here. Any contact from John?"  
"No word from him either."

Tony double checked his pod's tracking system, command pods carried high powered image sensors for mapping terrain and advanced tracking systems to keep track of the unit. Once again the computer only registered David's and Vince's pods. Either the jamming signal was interfering with John's pod transponder or it was offline.  
Vince's voice came in, "Sarge do you copy?"  
"I copy, something wrong with your comms Vince?"  
"Innies must be jamming signals with the comm relay, comms are only effective at short range, anything past 20 meters is garbled."  
"Affirmative, Any contact from John?"  
"Negative Sarge."  
"Alright rally on me and we'll get this op started."

After a few minutes Vince came into view as Tony and David examined the map created by the pod's sensors. "Nice of you to join us Private." Tony said.  
"Decided to take the scenic route sarge."  
"Ok, the relay station is about fourty klicks to the south so we have some ground to cover. Our largest obstacle will be the Odvaha cliff, scaling the cliff isn't an option but there is a pass that goes through the terrain. That pass is one of only three ways onto the plateau, it's likely we'll run into Innie patrols. We go in quiet, disable the signal and call for backup. Remember, comms are dead beyond twenty meters so stay close to each other."  
Vince pitched in. "Local efforts must be using smoke signals to communicate, no wonder they haven't taken the station back."  
"And that's why we're here. Sunrise is in six hours, we'll have to move quickly if we want to take as much advantage of the dark as possible. Let's go."  
David and Tony started moving south, Vince hurried to their side. "What about John?"  
"With comms jammed we have no way of contacting him or locating him. Mission priority has to be to regain control of the relay station and turn off the jamming signal. Once the signal is offline we'll be able to locate him."  
 _'Alive or Dead'_ He thought to himself.

* * *

The squad of three neared the Odvaha cliff. They couched down near the end of the treeline as the forest ended to meet the base of the cliff. Tony scanned his surroundings, commotion in the distance broke the silence of night.  
"You guys hear that?"  
David nodded, "Vehicles."  
"There's no intel of an Innie base here, your command pod didn't pick up any buildings." Vince said.  
"We're still a few kilometers from the pass, let's take a look." Tony lead the way as Vince brought up the rear.  
True to the intel, there was no exposed Insurrectionist base. A large mine was bore into the cliffside. The entrance was expansive, Tony wagered a Pelican could fly into the opening. Dimly lit by yellow lights the squad could see several small buildings nested into recesses dug into the cave wall. Several Innies stood watch acting as sentries. The squad watched as a convoy of five warthogs drove into the mine stopping inside to submit security clearance, and then continued deeper inside. Only the front and last warthogs were armed with M41 light anti-aircraft guns, the other three were modified to carry cargo.

"There's no record of a mine ever being here." Tony said.  
"Looks like it was abandoned, most of the mining equipment is missing." Vince added. "Green Hills was colonized for its copper deposits."  
"Did you get a good look at those Warthogs, Vince?"  
"Heavily modified, not UNSC issued." Vince replied. "Judging from the suspension, hauling something heavy."  
"Some kind of munitions dump, boss?" David inquired.  
"Maybe, I'd like to take a closer look, this mine seems pretty important to them, but we can't get sidetracked." Tony said. "We'll report the mine back to command once we've reestablished contact. David, leave them a present before we go."  
David flashed a wide grin, "With pleasure."

David hated sneaking around, he preferred the simplicity of a good firefight. Trading blows until one side simply couldn't fight anymore. Still, he had his orders, the boss told him to be stealthy and not to dispose of any Innies, since they might trigger an alarm. That last part was harder to accept than the stealth, he wanted to make sure any Innie he came across never walked away. He loathed the Insurrection, David had seen first hand what they were capable of. For all their talk of independence they were little more than terrorists. These traitors had decided to capitalize on the suffering of their own people instead of working together for the common good. For that he considered them all irredeemable and only their deaths could atone for their crimes.

Using the cover of darkness he approached the entrance to the mine. Evading the sentries he snuck pass the entrance and ducked into the recess to his right. The large artificial entrance provided very little cover. Off to the right a small two story building sat in a recess in the wall, the mine itself wound down to the left out of sight. Getting closer to the building he could tell it was modular, intended as temporary shelter to be removed, now abandoned and commandeered by the Insurrection. Two Innie guards spoke instinctively from inside the building. David snuck around behind to the back, there was less a meter between the wall of the building and the wall of the cave, this would have to do. David unshouldered his hardcase and pulled out four M168 demolition charges. Setting the charges on the cave floor he covered them in a thin layer of dirt, hopefully no one would notice them. The charges wouldn't do much damage, it was just to cause a diversion. As he set the timer, he smiled to himself and thought, "Too bad I won't be here to see the boom."

* * *

John felt like an Elephant ran over his head. The last thing he remembered was a bright red indicator flashing. "Ughh" He did his best to push aside the pain and clear his head. As the world came into focus he realised he was looking at the night sky, his pod was lying on its back. He hit the hatch eject, then hoisted himself out of the pod and fall down to the side. Gravity brought the hatch back down, hitting the pod with a loud clank. Groaning with pain, he checked his HUD, thankfully there were no internal injuries or broken bones, but his body suffered a large amount of blunt force trauma. He located the on board emergency med-kit in his pod and administered some painkillers. Sitting back leaning against the pod, John checked the time on his HUD, he had been unconscious for about two hours. Undoubtedly the squad had moved on since he didn't check in.

"Alpha 12-3 to Alpha 12 Actual." John strained to get the words out.

He was awarded silence for his efforts.

"Repeat, this is Alpha 12-3 to Alpha 12 Actual, come in."

Still silence.

"Ah, shit."

He was unable to contact anyone on the squad's private channel, and he wasn't about to start broadcasting in the open. Feeling some of his strength returning, John staggered to his feet and took in the carnage of the scene. He looked at the seven meter long trail his pod tore through the dirt. At the other end of the trail was a mangled tree that took the brunt of his landing. As the fog in his head cleared he remembered what happened, stabilization failure. Without a way to guide his pod he had no way to prevent his collision with the local flora, luckily for him the braking jets still did their job or he might not have survived the drop.

He inspected the remains of his pod, the radio was totally destroyed and he couldn't even tell if the transponder was still functioning. He was happy to discover his sniper rifle survived the ordeal. Every sniper personalized their rifle, his was no different, it had taken him a long time to sight the rifle just the way he preferred it. He had manged to keep the same rifle since he joined Alpha-Twelve. He considered it lucky, seeing how both him and the gun survived the drop, he was convinced more than ever that it was.

Being out of contact, he knew the squad would carry on the mission without him. Looking around John identified a few regional landmarks to get his bearings. Remembering the mission briefing, the comm relay would be located on the Klam Plateau, and the closest route to the plateau was the Odvaha Pass. He gathered the rest of the ammo and medical supplies in the pod and began his long trek. With any luck he might catch up to the rest of the squad.

* * *

Dawn approached, the squad finally had their mission objective in their sights. They had managed to evade Innie patrols and slipped through the Odvaha Pass without incident. However the closer they got to their objective the more resistance they ran into. Night was running out and the squad couldn't spend more time evading patrols.  
"Another patrol sarge, this one has a hog." Vince said.  
Two insurrectionists came into view through the thick shrubbery, walking at a leisurely pace while a warthog armed with a M41 followed behind. A driver and a gunner operated the vehicle while two insurrectionists in front discussed their dissatisfaction with their current assignment. The driver did his best not be bored driving at a snail's pace as the gunner scanned their surroundings.  
"I see 'em, four in total." Tony replied.  
"They're all over the plateau, where are all the local forces?" Vince wondered.  
"One problem at a time Vince, David how long?"  
"Not long now, boss." He replied.

"Ok, we're running out of time, be ready to engage with suppressors. I'll take the two in front. Vince, driver. David, Gunner. On my mark."  
Tony lined up both Innies with his M7S, Vince aimed his M6C SOCOM at the driver, while David simply unsheathed his combat knife.

"Mark."  
In one quick motion the Tony and Vince dispatched their targets, while David sprinted out of the treeline to the rear of the warthog, he pulled the gunner down and sliced his throat. All four targets dropped before they could retaliate. Even with David's helmet on you could see his smile.

"Feels good to get my hands dirty again."  
"Lets not have too much fun, we still have a job to do. Hide the bodies in the shrubs and let's mount up."  
Vince -always eager to operate any vehicle -hopped into the driver seat. "I thought we were doing this quiet sarge."  
"True, but with daylight approaching we'll need all the force multipliers we can get. Speaking of which, how long now David?"  
David hopped onto the M41, looking at his watch on his right arm and held up his left hand with all his fingers outstretched. He slowly lower each digit until there were none remaining. A thundering boom could be heard in the distance, followed by sirens.

"Floor it to the relay." Tony ordered.


	3. Chapter 3: Best Laid Plans

**Chapter 3: Best laid Plans**

The scene was otter chaos, Insurrectionist forces swarmed John's position. Only minutes ago he had stumbled across what looked to be an abandoned mine, closer inspection with his sniper rifle revealed it was occupied by the Innies. He took note of the mine's location for his mission report and was about to move on when the entrance suddenly exploded.

' _Explosive and Loud_ ' he thought, this was David's handiwork. Sirens went off alerting every Innie around for kilometers. Before long two dozen hostiles were gathered at mouth of the mine, some came from the temporary buildings just inside, but the majority arrived from the surrounding area. Most of them were armed with M3A3s, they all inspected the mine entrance for intruders and additional explosives. Afterwards they began to fan out looking for the culprit, not bothering to venture deeper into the mine. Proper military procedure would have been to secure the entire area including the mine interior. Ignoring the interior of the mine was a foolhardy mistake in his opinion but the Innies didn't follow military doctrine, so John let it go.

With all the increased activity he was sure to be spotted if he tried to move up the pass, it was better to stay off the plateau for now. John observed them carefully, he didn't become a great sharpshooter without learning patience. As the patrols fanned out John was forced to relocate twice, each time further from the mine. Eventually John heard a convoy of vehicles moving at high speed. Using the scope on his sniper he identified five heavily armored and modified warthogs heading for the mine. The front and rear warthogs were armed, the three in the middle were modified to carry cargo. Even his thermal sight couldn't reveal the interior of the vehicles, whatever they were hauling they wanted it a secret. Looking at the entire convey he saw every warthog was occupied by only one driver, except the third, the third seemed to have a female passenger. It was difficult to get a good sight on the occupants, but John managed a partial image of the occupants in the third warthog.

Looking at the image he had a clear picture of the driver, dressed in a militia uniform with captain stripes. John frowned, if the local militia were helping the insurrectionists, then things just got a lot uglier. Shifting his attention to the passenger, she was a mystery most of her face was covered either by the driver or by foliage. Curiously she was dressed in a lab coat, a civilian perhaps? The picture would have to be examined latter, right now he had to focus on the mission. John watched on as the Warthogs entered the mine. By now most of the patrols had dissipated, and John snuck his way through the pass.

* * *

David was having the time of his life. Their commandeered warthog moved at top speed toward the relay through the rough terrain, thankfully warthogs were rugged and built to handle uneven ground. The warthog bypassed all the Innie patrols that weren't sent to their diversion. Realizing it wasn't one of theirs, the Innies opened fire on the hog as they sped by. David took every opportunity to fill any poor bastard that got in the way with lead.

"When we get to the relay how long do you need to kill the jamming signal?!" Tony shouted over the roar of M41.  
"Won't know until we get there and I take a look at it sarge!" Vince shouted back.

The relay soon came into view, it was a small compound built adjacent to a mountain, any ground attack had to come from the south or east making it easy to defend. Inside the walls multiple buildings stood, with the main and largest building serving as a base for a massive interplanetary communications antenna. The other buildings housed servers for data storage and lodging for technicians and a small garrison. The compound was surrounded by titanium walls, the only way in was through the main gate. Between the noise of the engine and the machine gun, the squad was sure to attract the compound's attention.

"Break through the gate and get us to the main building!"  
"On it Sarge!"  
"David, keep an eye on the walls!"  
"You got it boss!"  
As the warthog broke through the trees, the squad began to take fire from the walls of the compound. The Insurrectionists had multiple M247 machine gun emplacements stationed on the wall, they swiveled to acquire their new target and unleashed a hailstorm of bullets. David downed or suppressed as many as he could, while Tony helped by targeting the Innie gunners with his DMR. Bullets bounced off the hood denting the armor, threatening to pierce the hog's cabin. The windshield shattered as Vince drove through the security barrier at top speed, then proceeded to bring the warthog to a skidding halt in front of the main relay building.  
"Last stop everybody out!" Vince shouted!  
"Vince, kill the signal, David and I will cover!"  
"Copy, sarge!"  
Vince rushed into the building, David stayed on the Warthog's gunner position while Tony stood behind the bullet ridden warthog shooting over the hood. Their combined efforts managed to clear the interior of the small compound, only manned by a handful of Innies. Their earlier diversion was a success, the Intel suggested heaver enemy resistance. Most of the stationed personal must have been reallocated to the mine. Once again Tony made a mental note of how important the mine appeared to be. David stayed on the gun, scanning the horizon while Tony fortified his position and took collected weapons from the fallen innies, most of his ammo reserve depleted.

However their respite was short lived as insurrectionist reinforcements arrived to retake the relay. David kept them suppressed with the continuous barrage of lead from the M41. Tony picked off any hostiles that got too close with his DMR. At first it was manageable, the Innies began probing attacks to test their defenses and discover their numbers. The moment they realized the entire compound was being defended by a two man team, Tony knew it would be over. Vince had to kill the signal so orbital support would be possible.

"Status?!" He shouted over the team's comm.  
"Innies did a number on the relay, I'll have to run a full diagnostic and reboot the main computer to restore the original protocols." Vince replied.  
"Better make it quick!"

More and more Innies arrived, quickly tipping the scale of balance of their standoff. With each passing moment the Innies became more brazen. Some even began to scale the wall from the outside. Tony frowned, the Innies would never waste this much manpower and resources attempting to recapture a position. They relied more on hit and run guerilla style tactics. These Innies were far too organized, whatever they wanted to hide with the jamming signal was of paramount importance to them.

Tony stopped firing and ducked behind the bullet ridden warthog to reload the M3A3 he liberated from a dead combatant, his DMR ran dry ages ago. Hearing David shout in pain, he glanced up at him and saw that he took a bullet in his left arm. Letting his left arm go slack, he continued to operate the M41 with just his right arm. That mad bastard would never stopped fighting as long as he was able.  
"Vince!" Tony shouted over the comm. "I need an ETA we're getting overrun!"  
"Working on it Sarge, they did a lot of damage to the relay!"  
Tony seated a new magazine and returned to a firing position, as he did he spotted an Innie standing on the wall with a M41 rocket launcher aiming right at them. The M3A3 was ineffective at this range, he would have to release an extremely controlled burst. Tony moved to get his sight on the target lining him up carefully and squeezed the trigger. But he was too late, Tony eyes widened at the sight of the barrel of the rocket launcher lit up in flame as the chemical propellant ignited to sent the rocket on its course.

Time slowed, as Tony shouted at his oldest squadmate to move out of the way of the approaching explosive. Just before the rocket left the tube he saw a bullet impact the Innie's chest, causing the rocket to go off course. Fueled by adrenaline and instinct Tony dove away from the warthog to avoid shrapnel and a possible fuel explosion. The flash of light and sound were disorienting, Tony looked up to see the warthog being tossed over onto its side by the force of the explosion, throwing David from the gun. He hit the ground with a hard thud and laid there still.

* * *

John moved as quickly as his legs could carry him, he was still feeling the effects of his landing. He had since run out of painkillers and was relying on stim patches to push himself. Tearing off an old stim patch he rubbed a new one onto his forearm and took a deep breath. All the gunfire coming from the relay told him the squad was in danger. John still couldn't get any of them on comms, if the jamming signal was still up they might need his help.

He came to the end of the tree line and was able to get a clear view of the compound's exterior. Innies swarmed around the outside walls. Some of them created makeshift staircases out of crates to climb over the walls. Using his practiced eye John estimated himself about three kilometers from the target, shooting at this distance would be difficult especially in his state. He would have preferred being a little closer to the targets, but he couldn't afford not to act, the fighting was getting worse, he had to help the squad.

John began to scan his potential targets, he spotted an Innie scaling the wall with an M41 rocket launcher. He became John's first unlucky target, John relaxed his breathing and tried to steady his aim, all the stim patches were causing his arms to tremble. He waited for his target to finish scaling the wall, at three kilometers away it would take his bullet eight seconds to reach his target. The less the target moved the better, if he was at a hundred percent he would estimated his target movements and taken the shot, but in his handicapped state he couldn't risk missing the target. The Innie completed his climb stood on the wall, John fired. The next eight seconds felt like an eternity. He watched helplessly as the rocket fired, while simultaneously his bullet struck his target in the chest, causing the rocket to go wide, impacting somewhere in the compound. John hoped the rocket didn't strike any of his squadmates, but he couldn't dwell on that now. He began to target the other Innies in order to disrupt their attack. One by one they began to fall.

* * *

Someone was shouting at Tony, but he couldn't make out any of the words over the ringing in his ears. He lifted his head to see the flaming wreckage of the warthog, still covering him from enemy gunfire. Vince was off to his left dragging an unconscious David with his left arm while firing his pistol with his right.  
"Sarge! Sarge, get inside!"  
He shook the fog from his head, and reached for the nearest rifle, wincing in pain, shrapnel caught him in his right shoulder. Briefly glancing down he had small cuts all over his right side. He grabbed the rifle with his left hand and retreated into the main building. For some unknown reason the gunfire had lessened up, Tony knew better than to question good fortune. He took a defensive position at the main door while Vince checked on David removing his helmet and portions of his armor.  
"How is he?"  
"Unconscious, multiple bullet wounds and lacerations, possible head injury. How about you?"  
"Took some Shrapnel, nothing serious, worry about David. What's the status of the relay?"  
"The jamming signal's down, planetary comms should be working again but its going to be a while before the relay is fully functional again. I got worried when neither of you acknowledge my message."  
"Good work Vince. See if you can raise John on squad comms, I'll Contact _Armstrong_."  
Keeping one eye on the door Tony radioed the frigate tasked to provide the squad support.  
"This is Alpha-12 Actual calling UNSC Frigate _Armstrong_ , how copy?"  
"This is UNSC _Armstrong_ , good copy, ready to render support."  
" _Armstrong_ , requesting immediate archer barrage, danger close, half a klick north of our location trailing north. Authentication: Raptor-One-Six-Kilo-Niner."  
"Copy Alpha-12, archer missiles inbound."

While Tony radioed to _Armstrong_ , Vince contacted John.

"Alpha 12-4 to Alpha 12-3."  
"This is Alpha 12-3, good to hear from you Vince."  
"Likewise, what's your status?"  
"Pretty banged up from my landing, I'm three kilometers to your north east laying down sniper fire. How's the squad?"  
"David's unconscious and Sarge is wounded, he's calling in support and re-"  
Tony switched comm channels and interrupted.  
"Alpha 12, listen up, _Armstrong_ 's bringing the rain, danger close north of the relay trailing north.  
"You dropping down ordinance Gunny? That's one hell of a welcome back present."  
"John, good to hear from you, are you clear?"  
"I'm three klicks away, should be fine, going to be one hell of a view though." John said as he watched seven missiles streak through the atmosphere.


End file.
